rockville. even with the lights on, it scared me. that's how scary it was. >> no haunted houses, no scary movies. i just don't want to be scared. >> stay with us. "news 4 today" continues now at 5:00 a.m. a lot on the line tonight as president obama and mitt romney prepare to face off a second time in the race for the white house. good morning, everyone. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. welcome to "news 4 today" for this tuesday, october 16th, 2012. we're going to take a live look outside at 5:00 a.m. a cool 51 degrees out there. after a lot of rain fell. it was pouring at one point. all the skies cleared, and now we have cooler weather. >> storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein is here. i actually saw really dark, almost black clouds yesterday afternoon. >> we had scary clouds, that's for sure. i'm going to show you a dramatic picture of that coming up next hour. right now, though, it's all calm. we cleared out. the clouds we had yesterday, the view from space.

we had that all clear out. that was associated with a cool front swept through. behindhe front, in came the chill. just a few clouds in the western suburbs, across northern virginia. mostly cloudy in the western mountains. quite a bit of cloudiness. mostly clear over the bay, southern maryland, and eastern shore. add temperatures. where it is cloudy, generally low 50s, these areas in green as well as the bay the wa ers. farther west, where it's cleared out out, mainly in the 30s. quite a chill in the air. closer to us, the temperatures are not quite as cold. we're generally low 5s in the nearby suburbs. 54 at reagan national. throughout the day today, still a chill in the air by 6:00 a.m. upper 40s to near 50, and the winds gusting 10 to 15 miles an hour. may be a bit blustery in the afternoon. i'm back in ten minutes with the hometown forecast. your first 4 traffic this

tuesday morning with danella. good morning. >> good morning. if you're taking the rails, checking them so far, not seeing any delays along the metro, the marc, or the vre. over to the roadway. now, most of the area, if there was construction happening, looks like they're in the process of picking it up. let's head over to 66, give people some time to get the cones out of the road. if you're traveling i-66 in both directions, volume still very light. we have a live look at sudley, no issues as you head towards the beltway traveling eastbound. i'll give you a live look at glebe road inside the beltway. again in this area in both directions, eastbound and westbound, i-66 inside the beltway, no problems to report. i'm back in ten. danella, back over to you. >> danella, thank you. president obama and mitt romney will face off in the second debate of their election. the president is hoping to perform better than he did in the first debate nearly two weeks ago. voters will ask questions in a town hall style debatet

hofstra university on long island. supporters say the president should be more aggressive in this debate. romney can improve on this as well. >> he needs to show he's tougher and push back. but he doesn't want to come across as a bully. for tt romney, the number one piece of advice he's getting is to engage with these questioners. in town halls, he has a tendency, when he gets a tough question, to back away. >> the candidates will meet next monday at lynn university in boca raton, florida, for their third and final debate. the debate begins at 9:00. you can watch it here on nbc 4. angie goff will be monitoring the web and getting feedback from viewers. you can weigh in with your comments on facebook, twitter, or on nbcwashington.com. three minutes after the hour. most polls show the candidates in a virtual tie, and they're about even as well when it comes to fund-raising. president obama raised $181 million last month. that is just $11 million more than his republican rival.

romney's campaign still happy with his fund-raising total. september was the republican nominee's weakest month. and polls showed him trailing the president in many battleground states. both campaigns focusing on virginia this week again. paul ryan will be in fredericksburg and lynchburg today. mitt romney will campaign tomorrow in leesburg and chesapeake. president obama plans to visit northern virginia on friday. his campaign has not said where exactly he will be. a scary scene in ohio as two motorcycles who are part of michelle obama's motorcade crashed. it happened as the first lady was heading to a campaign event from the airport yesterday afternoon. a local police officer and an ohio state trooper were both hurt in the crash. mrs. obama as not hurt, and no secret service vehicles were involved in the crash. secretary of state hillary clinton has said the deadly attack on america's consulate in libya was her responsibility. clinton says the president and vice president had nothing to do with security surrounding the consulate. she said security professionals make the decisions about

protecting state department employees. the obama administration has been criticized for not providing enough protection to officials in the consulate. one of the victims in that attack, chris stevens, will be remembered today at a public memorial in san francisco. stevens was the u.s. ambassador to libya. he grew up and went to college in california. senator dianne feinstein and libya's ambassador to the u.s. are expected to attend today's service at san francisco's city hall. two virginia hikers found safe in montana after being stranded for days in the snow will return home today. neal peckens of herndon and jason hiser of richmond went hiking in glacier national park last week. family reported them missing when they did not catch a flight home on friday. neal's mother says the pair hiked into the back country and fell into a ravine. they were stranded in cold temperatures and more than a foot of snow. park rangers found the men safe around 3:30 yesterday afternoon. >> i never felt that this was

going to end catastrophically. i never felt that somet happened to him. >> peckens and hiser were taken to the hospital and given a clean bill of health. it's not clear what time he'll be arriving home today. today is the deadline for metro to have completed installing cell phone service for all its underground stations. metro will testify to congress about why that project won't be finished until 2015. metro released a memo saying the additional three years will also include track shutdowns to restore service. metro officials haven't said why there's such a lengthy delay. the first deadline to install service at the 20 busiest stations was met back in 2009. new problems for jesse jackson jr. why the congressman is now under investigation. maryland schools are number one in america because

we invest in them. but we can do even more. every year marylanders spend five hundred and fifty million

dollars at casinos in other states. question 7 keeps that maryland money in maryland through expansion of gaming in maryland. it will mean hundreds of millions of dollars for our schools. as governor, i can promise you, that money will go to education. that's the law and that's what we'll do. vote for question seven. "and what do you do?" "oh, i sell insurance like no one else." "oh, that's nice." "thank you." now, that's progressive. call or click today.

a norway man is lucky to be alive after a terrifying accident. richard harrison was set to perform a stunt for a norwegian tv show. he was spinning around a bar about to jump off a 4,000-foot cliff when the bar suddenly collapsed sending him over the edge. amazingly harrison survived thanks to quick thinking. he immediately opened his parachute. >> otherwise, we couldn't show you this video. there were lots of tv cameras and everyone waiting to see what happened. >> there you can see his parachute. >> i don't understand why people do these things. they're the adventure seekers, just like the man who jumped out of an airplane 24 miles up. >> and then they watch. >> and say, wow, we'd never do that. you're crazy. >> that's why people do it. here's a live look outside this morning. we had lots of clouds and rain yesterday. today, though, sun ship coshine your way. >> right now it is chilly. going to need your winter coat.

it's down in the 40s. 40s to near 50 much of the region. urbana, maryland, hometown forecast. right near the montgomery county line. still in the 40s under a mostly cloudy sky this morning. by the noon hour, partly cloudy and upper 50s and a bit of a blustery wind. throughout the region, hour by hour, we'll have a chilly morning but warming into the mid-60s by midafternoon with quite a bit of sunshine in the afternoon. the winds will diminish by late afternoon. by then, back down to the low 60s. a look at the rest of the week and weekend in ten minutes. a look at traffic now. here's danella. tom, i'm following breaking news on the beltway. if you're traveling on the inner loop of the beltway, we have a situation. looks to be near new hampshire avenue or just past new hampshire avenue. let me show you what i'm talking about. watching cameras showing cars come to a complete stop right now. i'm trying to find out what's going on. but if you're on the beltway past university boulevard trying to get to new hampshire avenue, there's something ithe road stopping your commute.

i'm back in ten with an update. aaron and eun, back over to you. >> danella, thank you. a warning for pet owners. the reason one brand of treats is being recalled. also ahead, new hope for a young pakistani girl targeted by the taliban. ♪

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under the president's policies, middle income americans have been buried. they're just being crushed. middle-income americans have seen their income come down

by $4,300. this is a tax in and of itself. i'll call it the economy tax. i'm not going to raise taxes on anyone. my plan is to bring down rates to get more people working. my priority is putting people back to work in america. i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. a pee wee football coach could face assault charges. the coach was upset over an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. he confronted the referee. because of the controversy, the ref decided to call the game early. the assistant coach attacked him. so far, that coach has not been arrested, but he could face some charges. this morning british doctors treating a pakistani girl shot by the taliban says she has a

chance at making a good recovery. the taliban shot 14-year-old malala yousufzai in the head and neck for helping pakistani girls. the taliban was promised to target her again for promoting, quote, western thinking. she arrived at the hospital in england yesterday that specializes in treating soldiers with gunshot wounds and serious head injuries. a student protest in mexico turned violence when the police raided three colleges. the students protested changes in curriculum requiring mexican students to study english and computer science. police say the students set fire to a truck, bus, and other vehicl vehicles monday morning. police arrested more than 100 student protesters. the fbi and federal prosecutors here in washington looking into possible misuse of funds by jesse jackson jr. they're trying to figure out if the illinois congressman used campaign money for home renovations. nbc news reports this investigation predates jackson's

sudden disappearance from congress. his office claims he's being treated for bipolar disease. despite being out of the public eye and off the campaign trail, jackson is seeking re-election. the white house wants a lawsuit that forces attorney general eric holder to turn over documents about a failed gun trafficking program thrown out. the republican controlled house of representatives filed the lawsuit. it wants holder to hand over records about the controversial program operation fast and furious. the justice department claims the lawsuit should be dismissed because the courts cannot resolve political disputes between the executive branch and the committee seeks those records. >> former pennsylvania senator arlen specter will be laid to rest in a ceremony to be attended by vice president joe biden. specter died sunday at the age of 82 after a lengthy battle with non-hodgkins lymphoma. the moderate democrat was 82 years old. president obama ordered the flags at the white house be flown at half staff.

meantime, another former u.s. senator has entered hospice care. george mcgovern served three terms in the u.s. senate. he ran against president nixon in 1972 and lost. his family has not given details on the 90-year-old's health. prosecutors present their case today against the captain of the costa concordia that sunk off the coast of italy last year. he appeared in court yesterday. he's accused of being at the helm when the cruise liner ran aground, killing 42 people. he got off the ship before everyone was evacuated, causing a firestorm of controversy. at the hearing yesterday, he apologized to survivors as well as family members of the victims. some of the names of the men accused of paying a fitness instructor for sex are now public. police say alexis wright ran the operation out of a zumba studio in maine. she's accused of videotaping her encounters with more than 125 men. she's pled not guilty.

yesterday the first 21 names of the clients were released. a couple of them went to court to prevent the names from being released, only heightening speculation that lawyers and law enforcement officials were among the clients. an explosion that left one person dead and at least ten injured and three others missing. this morning investigators are trying to figure out what caused the deadly gas explosion in eastern china early monday morning. authorities say liqueified gas exploded, blowing out the side of this apartment building. they warned residents not to return because it could collapse. with halloween two weeks ago, federal agents are screening imported costumes to make sure they're safe to wear. a shipment of children's pirate costumes from china to seattle, washington, will never hit store shelves. federal agents found high levels of lead. workers with the consumer product safety commission use a handheld device to screen products at a warehouse. >> in this child's eye patch

that goes over the child's eye, the lead limit is 4,233 parts per million. >> that is more than 40 times the acceptable level in the u.s. agents seized the toxic costumes and destroyed them. a warning as well for pet owners this morning. nature's recipe recalling some of its dog treats because of possible salmonella. they are voluntarily recalling their oven baked biscuits with real chicken. the treats are sold nationwide mostly through specialty pet supply stores. if you have these treats, throw them away and contact nature's recipe. we have more information on the website, nbcwashington.com. more and moroccan certify patien -- cancer patients are turning to alternative therapy. people are taking advantage of yoga, massages, and even acupuncture to help deal with side effects from treatments, including chemotherapy and radiation. 71 cancer centers in 2010 offered advice about alternative

therapies. they work in conjunction with traditional treatmently cure an cancer. it's a chilly start out there. wondering if things are going to warm up. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein is here. weather and traffic on the ones. >> hi, tom. >> that was a live view of the jefferson memorial under a partly cloudy sky. winds are a bit blustery. the big story, a chill has moved in in the wake of the showers yesterday afternoon. just a few clouds moving through. we'll have those in and out this morning. temperatures now under this partly cloudy sky, generally right around 50 in prince george's county. arlington, fairfax, and montgomery counties. reagan national at 54. just the low to mid-50s. southern maryland near the bay, weather watchers checking in around the blue ridge. temperatures there right around 50 as well as out of the mountains. there are a few isolated spots out of western maryland, parts of west virginia, where the

temperatures are down in the 30s in a few locations there. you'll be dealing with a bit of a blustery chill as you step off to work and school. you'll need a coat. we'll be in the 40s to near 50 over the next couple of hours. then by late morning into the 50s. ought to hit the mid-60s by midafternoon. the winds should diminish and have more sunshine this afternoon. 50s by late evening, 40s by dawn tomorrow. during the day on wednesday, partly cloudy, up around 70 during the afternoon. on thursday, increasing clouds by 70 early afternoon. we could get showers. right now the timing looks to be late thursday afternoon and perhaps off and on thursday evening into maybe the predawn hours on friday. then partly sunny on friday and during the afternoon, high mid-60s. and now your weekend. storm team 4 seven day outlook into the weekend looking delightful for outdoor activities on saturday and sunday. all the high school college games will be in the 40s in the morning, afternoon highs mid-60s. bit milder sunday and monday.

near 70 both of those days. i'm back in ten minutes. your first 4 traffic now with danella. good morning. >> good morning. i have good news. if you're traveling the beltway, the inner loop, as you make your way towards new hampshire avenue. had a collision there, looked like it was blocking your lanes. big delays past university boulevard. good news, those travel lanes look to be open and that incident is out of the roadway. let's check travel speeds for you. here's a look as you are make your way past route 1. traveling from i-270 to i-95 on the inner loop now. that drive is going to take you about 11 minutes. not bad at all. that incident completely gone. over to the rails, if you're taking them, i'm still checking them with no reported delays. aaron and eun, back over to you. >> thanks, danella. we are still a couple of months away from the potential of significant snowfall. the city says they're ready for it. the city has a new fleet of equipment, including trucks that remember which streets have already been treated. the plows on those trucks are also new, able to push more snow

out of the way while making less noise. city officials, though, say it all depends on how much snow we actually get. >> up to 18 to 20 inches of snow, i feel very comfortable about what we can do. it's when you get above that when it becomes a little shaky. >> the national weather service says on average the d.c. region gets about 14.5 inches of snow each year. people across our region are expected to take part in an earthquake drill this week. virginia governor bob mcdonnell says most people were not ready when last year's 5.8 magnitude quake hit. on thursday morning, d.c., maryland, and virginia are getting together for what's being called the great southeast shakeout. at 10:18, people taking part in that drill are supposed to drop to the ground, cover their heads, and hold on to what they can to simulate a large earthquake. many basketball fans will remember last night's wizards preseason game for years to come. that's because it was the first game the nets played at their new home in brooklyn.

this is a look at the brand new barclays center. the nets open their new home in style winning 98-88. the wizards are now 1-3 on the preseason. they'll take on the raptors in toronto and open the regular season two weeks from tonight in cleveland. imagine if they lost. some new york giants football players had their cars burglarized, and one was even stolen while the team was in san francisco. the players usually leave their cars in a secure parking lot at the stadium before heading on road trips. police say the players' car doors were unlocked and the thieves broke the lock on a security gate to get inside. thankfully for the giants, they're at home this weekend as they take on the redskins. there you go. wildlife experts solved the mystery behind that giant eyeball. remember this thing that washed up in florida. >> it's about the size of a softball. it most likely apparently belongs to a swordfish. experts say a fisherman probably removed it and tossed it overboard. the eye was found about 35 miles

north of miami last wednesday. some people suspected maybe it came from a giant squid or a whale. the eye is now being tested for dna to confirm it is indeed from a swordfish. >> now we know it's not some mysterious, prehistoric -- >> loch ness monster type of thing. it's now 5:26. coming up, the big endorsement tim kaine is getting this morning in this tight virginia senate race with george allen. [ female announcer ] as you're making your decision... maybe you're wondering what to believe about mitt romney. well, when it comes to protecting your access to birth control... and the basic women's health care services planned parenthood provides... one thing we must remember, is this: i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. [ female announcer ] he'll cut it off. cut us off. planned parenthood. we're going to get rid of that. [ female announcer ] women need to know the real mitt romney.

[ obama ] i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

5:29. another chance to make their cases with voters. president obama and mitt romney prepare for their second debate. a happy homecoming in virginia today. two hikers are ready to come home after being lost in the wilderness. and vice president jthose og to pay their respects to arlen tech ter.

storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein is to fill in the details on our day. >> i mentioned you saw some really scary looking dark clouds yesterday afternoon. we had a lot of photos come in. here's one of them. it was a dramatic cloud. this was the one you saw, right? it would have passed right over sterling, virginia. we call this a shelf cloud. it kind of is like a shelf that comes out from a wall. right after that passed by, it rained really hard for a brief time. send your photos to weather@nbcwashington.com. this one looked like from space right around that same time when that dark cloud with the heavy rain was passing over northern virginia. then is cruised right over the district and over the bay and now way out to see. behind that, just a partly cloudy sky right now and a chill in the air this morning. much of the region, down to just near 50 degrees. including prince george's, arlington, fairfax, montgomery counties. reagan national, 54. it's in the 40s, much of the

shenandoah valley and into the mountai mountains. much of the isolated spots in the 30s. winds gusting to around 15, 20 miles an hour into the afternoon. by your lunch hour should be in the low 60s and mostly sunny. a mostly sunny afternoon. winds diminish by late afternoon after we reach mid-60s midafternoon. sunrise 7:19. sunset 6:28. i'm back in the hometown forecast in ten minutes. first 4 traffic with danella. checking the roadways, things still pretty quiet so far. wilson bridge nice and clear. as you loop around to the american legion bridge, no issues there really in either direction. as you cross over the outer loop and inner loop, picking up a little bit of volume. no major delays or accidents. also checking the key bridge, nice and clear. southeast bridges, checking cameras along the sousa bridge and douglass bridge, nice and clear. travel lanes are open. i'm back in ten. aaron, over to you. >> thank you, danella. all eyes will be on hofstra

university in long island tonight, hosting the second presidential debate. this is a chance for president obama to rebound from his poor first debate and mitt romney to keep it going after his first successful debate. tracie potts, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. the format of this debate is really going to dictate what you see tonight, a lot more interactive, more engaging the candidates. both sides say they are ready for this. a it's a town hall format. 80 uncommitted voters asking questions on their own with the moderator sort of fielding those questions to the two candidates. the trick here is going to be being aggressive against your opponent but not toward those voters asking the questions. paul ryan saying this is a chance to cut through the clutter. democrats saying it's a chance for president obama to shine after his lackluster performance two weeks ago. and this morning we have interesting insight on both canned at that tididates and th

preparations from their wives. listen. >> mitt's prepared. mitt's confident. mitt's got a good presence about him. >> i'm looking at him. i'm smiling. i'm giving a thumbs up, if he can see it. with the lights, you just never can tell. does he know exactly where i'm sitting? can he see me? so i just prepare myself. i assume that he can. so i make sure that i'm always giving him that positive love. >> reporter: this debate covers both domestic issues here at home, foreign policy as well. we believe mitt romney is going to bring up libya where the administration first said those attacks on americans, that killed four americans had more to do with riots than with terrorist attacks. that ended up not being the case. president obama talking about mitt romney's fuzzy tax math, as he described it, and the 47 percent caught on camera. didn't mention that at all two

weeks ago. we expect it to come up tonight. >> and tonight's debate begins at 9:00. you can watch it on nbc4. we'll have analysis afterward at news 4 at 11:00, and angie goff will be monitoring the web and getting feedback from you, the viewers. mitt romney, his running mate, will turn his attention to virginia. paul ryan will be in lynchburg. mitt romney will campaign in the commonwealth himself as well tomorrow. in virginia as well, the race for senate passes through our region. george allen and tim kaine will be in northern virginia. allen, a republican, will speak at a nova defense round table event in rosslyn. democrat tim kaine will speak to northern virginia women in dulles. tim kaine just picked up a major endorsement. "the washington post" is supporting the former governor and dnc chairman. in today's paper, "the post" editorial board said the

campaigns disagree on major issues. the post wrote "the contrast in character and intellect is even more stark. mr. kaine, a democrat, is better by leaps and bounds over mr. allen, a republican." the deadline to register is 9:00 tonight for maryland. you can register on the board of elections website, the address is election.state.md.us. in the district, the deadline has already passed to register by mail. you can still register in person. you have to do that at a public library, firehouse, or police station. yesterday was the deadline in virginia. new this morning, police at the university of maryland are warning students about an armed robbery near campus. the robbery happened at 9:30 last night near the intersection of calvert road and princeton avenue. prince george's county police say several students were running when they were approached by a man with a gun. police say that's when another man joined the suspect and the pair demanded the suspects'

property. it's not clear what they got away with. police are trying to figure out who killed a man in prince george's county. officers found the man yesterday while responding to the report of a shooting at a house on 25th avenue in temple hills. investigators are not saying whether the victim had been shot. only saying he suffered trauma to the upper body. we're told he died after paramedics took him to an area hospital. two virginia hikers found safely in montana after being stranded for days in the snow will return home today. neal peckens of herndon and jason hiser of richmond went hiking in glacier national park last week. family reported them missing when they did not catch a flight home on friday. neal's mother says the pair hiked into the back country and fell into a ravine. they were stranded in cold temperatures and more than a the foo of snow. park rangers found the men safe at about 3:30 yesterday afternoon. peckers and hiser were taken to the hospital and given a clean bill of health. it's not clear what time they'll be arriving home today.

>> both doctors and experienced hikers. nice to see this turned out the way it should have. still to come, mixing politics with business. the latest retailer to wade into the debate on same sex marriage. [ female announcer ] it's deliciously dark just before dawn.

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call or click today. well, we may never know what president obama's and mitt romney's favorite pizza toppings are. pizza hut is backing off its promotion to give to anyone who asked the candidates if they like sausage or pepperoni on their pizza. customers blasted that. now customers can vote for their pizza online. one customer will be rewarded. they're not saying if it's free pizza for life. >> do you have a favorite topping for pizza? >> i'm simple on everything really. pepperoni. that's it. >> that's not simple. that's good. >> i don't get into chicken and

pineapple and all that jazz. >> all right. 5:41. time for weather and traffic on the ones. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein with your forecast. going to want a hot bowl of oatmeal this morning. chilly forecast, burke, virginia, 47 near 7:00 a.m. by the noon hour, near 60 and sunshine. throughout the region, a mild afternoon, into the mid-60s, and the winds will be blustery too and settle down by late afternoon. i'm back in ten minutes with a look at the rest of the week and the weekend. where there's a big snowstorm going on now. now danella has a look at traffic. good morning. >> don't say the "s" word, tom. it's too soon. traveling along 295 d.c., heading to bw parkway, both directions, travel lanes are open. we'll check 395, still nice and clear from the beltway as you make your way past seminary road and even continuing toward the pentagon, nice and clear. as you cross over the 14th street bridge and head into the

district, no issues to report. traveling in maryland along i-270, i'm seeing brake lights. we'll talk details in exactly ten minutes. aaron and eun. >> thank you, danella. it is now 5:42. missing the deadline. why riders will have to wait years to get a cell phone signal on metro. plus new conce

maryland schools are number one in america because we invest in them. but we can do even more. every year marylanders spend five hundred and fifty million dollars at casinos in other states. question 7 keeps that maryland money in maryland through expansion of gaming in maryland. it will mean hundreds of millions of dollars

for our schools. as governor, i can promise you, that money will go to education. that's the law and that's what we'll do. vote for question seven.

today an official from gallaudet university plans to discuss the controversy surrounding her stance on same-sex marriage. angela mccaskill will hold a press conference this afternoon in annapolis. after leaving, she signed a petition to put maryland's same-sex marriage law on the ballot. an attorney for dr. mccaskill

says she's not anti-gay. she just wants maryland voters to decide on the issue. her attorney says he's exploring legal options to get her reinstated at the university. voters in washington state are set to vote on a similar measure, whether to uphold the law supporting same-sex marriage. they got a big boost from retail giant nordstrom. the ceo of the seattle based retail chain sent a memo to all 60,000 employees about his stance on the issue. without explicitly mentioning same-sex marriage, the letter says, "gay and lesbian employees should have the same protection under the law as heterosexual employees." news 4 spoke to shoppers in our area. they said, whether or not they agree with same-sex marriage, it's a good policy for the company to have. >> even though i may have my own personal preferences in different directions, as a corporate policy, i think it's a good idea. >> i've always liked nordstrom. i don't know that i would consider it a reason to shop

here, but it makes me feel good about shopping here. >> other companies based on the west coast have voiced their support for same-sex marriage, including nike, starbucks, and amazon. 5:47. two more drugs from a specialty pharmacy linked to a meningitis outbreak are being investigated. the outbreak is linked to steroid shots used for back pain made by the new england compound center in massachusetts. now the food and drug administration is trying to figure out if drugs given to patients after eye or heart surgery could be part of that outbreak. so far 215 people are sick and 15 others have died, including a patient in maryland and virginia. the salmonella scare that wiped dozens of jars of peanut butter off the shelves is turning to shelled peanuts. hines peanut company has pulled their peanuts. they say they were processed at sunland peanut processing plant. they shut down after cases were reported.

hines shelled peanuts are sold at dollar general and walmart. security rules for the trial of five men accused in the september 11th attacks. prosecutors want a protective order to prevent the suspects from revealing what happened to them in secret overseas cia prisons. the government already acknowledged they were subjected to, quote, enhanced interrogation techniques before arriving at guantanamo bay, cuba. the judge ruled the defendants will not have to attend these pretrial proceedings. this morning a montgomery county high school student is in trouble for stabbing a classmate. the stabbing happened yesterday morning near the cafeteria at northwood high school in silver spring. officers arrested 18-year-old shadat tarawali. he's accused of stabbing a fellow student in the leg. the two had reported been in a leg. tarawali is charged with second degree assault and possessing a weapon school property.

two officers accused in the beating of former university of maryland student. reginald baker and james harrison charged with assaulting john mckenna. students were celebrating after the basketball victory over duke in 2010. the police say mckenna tried to throw a punch during a riot, but a fellow student and witness who took the stand said that is not what happened. >> he was standing there and singing, and there was clearly nothing in his hands. even though they're trying to say he was doing this and that was a threatening manner, any reasonable person could tell that is absolutely ridiculous. >> the officers face up to 25 years in prison each if convicted of assault. take a look at these surveillance pictures. prince george's county police are looking for this man who robbed a shell gas station with a shotgun. over the weekend, police say the man walked into the store on annapolis road in bowie, pointed a shotgun at the clerk, and demanded cash. no one was hurt. if you recognize this man, call prince george's county police. a woman pulled from her

burning home in prince george's county over the weekend has died. 40-year-old deirdre young was found unconscious inside her burning, two-story house on peachleaf court in upper marlboro. she was suffering from burns and smoke inhalation. she later died at the hospital. investigators say the fire was electrical in nature and has been ruled an accident. the deadline for metro to finish installing cell phone service at all of its underground stations. instead, officials will state why the project won't be completed until 2015. metro released a memo saying the last 20 years will include track shutdowns to continue service. the first deadline to install service at the 20 busiest stations was met back in 2009. d.c.'s chief tax appraiser is stepping down. tony george resigned after questions about the settlements that lowered hundreds of assessments of commercial properties by more than $2.5

billion p billion. "the washington post" is reporting that george never disclosed he lost his job in georgia before coming to the district. this morning we are getting look at the designs for the final stretch of the anacostia river walk trail. the four-mile project is known as the kenilworth aquatic gardens segment. it will connect 60 miles of trail in washington and bring together bedding road in d.c. with the bladensburg waterfront park. a federal grant in d.c. and maryland will pay for the $15 million project. construction is expected to begin next spring. i've been down to the kenilworth aquatic gardens. it's a beautiful time down there especially before it gets too cold to see the nature and wildlife. you all have been encouraging me to go to a pumpkin patch, which i have not done before. our friends at 94.7, tommy mcfly and the gang, heard that yesterday. so they sent me a pumpkin so i don't have to make the trip apparently to the pumpkin patch. kelly coss, i don't know, she has a thing where she comes

after me on twitter. >> she doesn't come after me. it's sometimes you set yourself up on the air. i don't mean that in a mean way. you make comments. >> this was sitting on my desk when i came in this morning along with other -- what do you call it? >> accoutrements. >> from the pumpkin patch. >> some gourd, some corn. >> and there's a wagon parked outside, and you're going on the hay ride after. >> thank you, guys. i'm going to give it to eun so her kids can carve it. >> that doesn't mean you get out of the pumpkin patch. you've still got to go. it's snowing in austria. don't you love facebook? one of my facebook followers lives in austria. she sent me this picture. >> tom kierein is worldwide. >> she sent me this picture from the austrian alps before sunset in the tyrol region of austria. this is october, for crying out loud. even there it's unusual. here for us, we're off to a

chilly start. just a few clouds coming through. temperatures in the upper 40s to around 50 degrees in montgomery, arlington, fairfax, and prince george's counties. right near the bay, southern maryland, northern neck, most locations are near just 50 degrees. farther west a round the blue ridge, some of the higher elevations are in the 40s as parts of the shenandoah valleys and into the mountains of western maryland and west virginia. for the morning commute, it's going to be dry, breezy, and chilly. a partly cloudy sky. we'll just be hovering near 50 degrees for another couple of hours. for the lunch hour, we'll be in upper 50s and low 60s. still a bit of a blustery wind swirling the leaves around. during the afternoon, we'll peak in the mid-60s. winds will diminish tonight. by dawn tomorrow, 40s. partly cloudy, a delightful october day. up around 70 degrees. near 50 by dawn on thursday with increasing clouds thursday. there's going to be a front approaching, near 70 before the front arrives. it may trigger some more showers like we had yesterday. that would be thursday afternoon

perhaps into thursday evening. then we had to dry out on friday, high 60s. here's a look at the weekend. storm team 4, seven-day outlook. delightful weekend coming up. chilly in the mornings. danella, how's traffic? it's that time of morning. that means that some of the roadways starting to slow down. heavy on the brakes as you make your way southbound past 109, you are very slow just hitting the brakes here. the good news is, once you get to clarksburg road, this is what the commute looks like southbound, clear as you head to the beltway. traveling on i-95 in virginia, lorton, starting to see headlights in this area. we'll talk details in ten minutes. today social security recipients will learn how much extra they'll be getting each other. the cost of living figures come out today. analysts expect that increase will be between 1 percent and 2 percent, the smallest in nearly 40 years. last year the average was 3.6%. workers average $300 a month in

social security. if you're looking for a little holiday cash, the country's biggest online retailer is hiring. amazon says it's hiring 50,000 temporary workers in the coming months. these workers will work at order fulfillment centers across the country, and they expect to bring thousands of these people on full-time after the holidays. five minutes before the top of the hour. more and more people with student loans are crying foul this morning, saying they are being unfairly targeted. cnbc's shartia brantley is live with that story and more. shartia, good morning. >> good morning, aaron. the government's consumer financial watchdog says it's receiving thousands of complaints from people struggling to repay their student loans. the consumer financial protection bureau says the complaints are very similar to homeowners who are having trouble making their mortgage payments. they're being charged extra fees, can't seem to figure out just who owns their loan, and can't get a representative on the phone who can provide their help. the agency has been compiling complaints since march and is urging congress to help

borrowers either modify or refinance their student loan payments. and starbucks will start selling its new single cup at home brewing system today at its stores. the barrismo costs $199 or $399, depending on the side or features. it's already sold online and at other retailers such as macy's. starbucks is trying to grab market share away from green mountain coffee roasters, which makes the kechurig k-cup machin and controls 75% of the u.s. market. let the competition begin. two women are joining forces to cohost the golden globe awards. "30 rock's" tina fey and "parks and recreation star" amy poehler in january. the two are used to sharing the spotlight. they co-anchored "weekend

update" on "saturday night live." wonder how the tone will be different with two women hosting the show. >> they're funny. so it should be good. a lot of people are flocking to haunted houses for a good scare. >> this morning we're getting a good laugh at one haunted house in niagara falls, canada. take a look at these photos. these are pictures from the nightmares fear factory. forget the scary and ghoulish things you see out there, look at these faces. the real draw comes from photos of people who are scared out of their minds. these are some of the top ten reaction photos on the fear factory's website this week. he's almost crawling up that guy's back he's so scared. >> so funny. this is why i don't want to go into a haunted house. i don't want to be scared. i don't want to pay money to be scared. >> that's a good idea. >> clever photos. up ahead, wt one man discovered that will have a lot of parents checking the label this halloween.

round two. the presidential